→ Use SeatGuru to make your in flight time as comfortable as possible.

→ Let Talking Translator help you communicate while traveling abroad.

→ Find your way using the Maps app.

→ Take advantage of other’s travel experiences using TripAdvisor.

→ Travel the world living like a local using the Intervac Home Exchange app.

→ Find like-minded seniors to exchange homes with.

→ Use XE Currency to keep track of what you spend in a foreign country.

The iPad makes traveling easier and more enjoyable. Not only can you book your flight from your easy chair, you can plan your itinerary, scope out amazing restaurants and markets, and find key things to do and sights not to be missed so that you take full advantage of your destination. And the great news is that most of the best iPad apps for travel are free!

Arranging Travel Using the Kayak App

Kayak has the ideal app to help you find the best way to travel to your next destination. Through Kayak’s app, you can book flights and hotels, reserve cars, and maintain your travel details all in one place. Kayak searches the travel options of many airlines and then refers you directly to the airline to make the purchase. A notable exception is Southwest, which doesn’t participate in any of these apps. If you want to fly Southwest, you need to use its website to search for flights.

Search the App Store for Kayak. Tap Free and then tap Install to download it. Open Kayak by tapping its icon on your screen.

One of the great things about being in the senior demographic is the ability to travel “when the spirit moves,” rather than at specified times. The opportunity to fly at nonpeak times becomes a reality that can greatly enhance your ability to take advantage of travel deals that others might miss.

The example in this task shows searching for a round-trip flight from New York’s JFK airport to San Francisco, departing April 10 and returning May 10. There are several easy ways to modify your search. You can choose different dates, locations, and cabin options.

One option is to choose seating other than economy. Your choices range from economy to first class; tap CABIN line to access other seating options.

After you make all your choices, tap Search to find your outbound flight.

The images you see here are how these apps appeared at the time this book was written. App developers do occasionally update their apps by changing the way it looks, moving buttons around, or adding new features. You might find that an app looks slightly different from what you see here, but unless the developer has given it a total overhaul, it should function basically the same way it did when these steps were written. So don’t let that stop you from trying it out!

This search yields round-trip flights starting at $647 (US Airways).

The time for the least expensive option to San Francisco is 9 1/2 hours. However, looking at the other results it appears that Delta has a flight with a duration of 6 3/4 hours, at a cost of $661. The $14 additional cost per ticket is well worth the shorter flight.

In this example, the second Delta flight, departing JFK at 3:30 p.m. on April 10, was chosen along with the return flight departing San Francisco at 4:00 p.m. on May 10. You can see that each flight is nonstop and travels across the country in the shortest time.

The next screen contains a summary of your flight choice. The summary has two options for next steps: You can either tap the upper-right corner to email the information to yourself or fellow travelers, or tap the arrow after Delta to go to the airline website to buy the tickets.

For this example, tap the arrow after Delta to buy the tickets. At this point, you leave the Kayak app and go directly to Delta’s website. When at the Delta website, you can proceed to buy your tickets, choose seat assignments, complete passenger information, as well as add on other optional items such as baggage fees and other extras.

You can use this same process to search for hotels and car rentals to add to your itinerary, or you can book only hotels and a car rental if you don’t need flights. Kayak also has a My Trips option that enables you to save your travel itinerary in one place. Time to pick a destination, book your flight, and start exploring!